The Rules of the Road
Hello Team SOG!!! Before you jump right into the fun here, I would like to lay down a few ground rules to help ensure and maintain order and prevent chaos. NOTICE: Rules subject to change on a moment's notice. Check back frequently to make sure that you get the most updated list.'' '''The Rules of the Road -- ''Updated: '' 20 November 2014 -- 1356 Hours (US CST) 1) LEGAL '''- Discussions of ROMs and Emulaton are ok, posting links to it or suggesting sites for it are '''NOT. Also included in this section here are instructions on how to commit illegal activies and giving reference/source material for them such as hacking, piracy, and emulation...DON'T DO IT! '''Many of us on here already know how to do these things anyway, so discussing how to do it is unecessary and it's best to just keep it under the cuff, especially when the legality of these acts is questionable. Do '''NOT post anything considered taboo to society. For example: Inbreeding, Bestiality, Pedophillia, etc. 2) AVOID RELIGIOUS AND/OR STRONGLY POLITICAL TOPICS '- These create nothing but chaos and huge flaming/trolling wars among users. Besides, they really have no place in a video-game-and-creepypasta-centric wiki anyway. '''3) PORNOGRAPHY '- I ''hope ''I don't have to explain myself. Any graphic, explicit details or phrasing on sexual activities is absolutely, positively '''FORBIDDEN, and ''WILL ''result in instant deletion of comment and banning of account. 4) YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY FALLOUT FROM YOUR WRITING '- Although we don't tolerate trolls and flamers and will do anything in our power to stop them, if you post something that can clearly give cause for argument and you get into a conflict with one or more users on what you posted, you are subject to the same punishment as the trolls, which is comment deletion and/or banning. '''5) PROPER ENGLISH IS THE KEY '- I don't know how many times I've seen poor spelling/grammar and those damned ''walls of words, please learn proper English/Grammar/Spelling if you are going to post here. Also under this rule are outrageous fonts. You are allowed to use different font styles and sizes, as long as they have purpose and are not excessive or unnecessary. Refrain from using extra spacing, LARGE LETTERS, and use minimal CAPS 'and extended words, I.E "''Loooooooooooong", "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh", etc. Please also try to avoid using span style source code, although we understand that sometimes wikia adds it automatically for certain copy and paste operations. One more thing on here, a friendly reminder, we are an ''ENGLISH SPEAKING WEBSITE''. FEW of us know how to speak anything but, so, '''ENGLISH ONLY!!! 6) UPDATE YOUR CREEPYPASTAS TO THE LIST!!! '''- This is '''VERY important, and is critical that you follow this rule. For one, the downside to you personally from not updating the list is that your pasta will be forever lost in the ocean of pages here and will not receive any visitors. The downside to the community as a whole is that we run into difficulties in trying to maintain the quality of the site. Also, make sure that the creepypastas are ordered appropriately, users have spent hundreds of hours keeping everything neat and tidy, you are expected to continue this trend. 7)'' CATEGORIES''' - Do not add nonexistent categories. Adding categories that are relevant to the content of your creepypasta is perfectly fine and, in fact, recommended. However, if you add nonexistent categories, it just makes a mess of things. As a piece of advice, type the first few letters of the word you want to add, if it doesn't automatically appear on the drop-down menu as an option, odds are, it doesn't exist!!! NOTE: as an extension of this rule. If you fail to add categories (EXISTING, mind you) to your creepypasta, you WILL be banned for no less than three (3) days. Also, if you post a creepypasta based on a game series, add the series' generic title, DO NOT ADD THE GAME TITLE. '''''EXAMPLES: A creepypasta about Super Mario 64 WILL NOT be given a category of "Super Mario 64". It will be given a category of Super Mario. With The Elder Scrolls, instead of categorizing a creepypasta about Daggerfall with "Daggerfall" or one about Morrowind with "Morrowind", use the generic The Elder Scrolls (series), category for both. If a creepypasta is about Spyro, instead of categorizing with the individual game's name, just add the generic category of Legend of Spyro (series) (yes I know that technically The Legend of Spyro series is independent from past series...but its a case that I compare to Zelda. Although Legend of Zelda is independent of other series, it will be Zelda's generic title), and finally, a creepypasta about a Facebook app will be given the generic category of Facebook, instead of an individual category for each app (FarmVille, CafeWorld, Zoo World, FishVille, ''etc.) A guide to adding categories is here. '''8)' 'TROLL PASTAS ARE NOT ALLOWED' - This is a site dedicated to quality stories that have the opportunity to be read by Mutahar. If you deliberately post a trolling creepypasta, such as one with extremely bad English or one filled to the brim with cliches, these crappypastas take away from the experience, and the majority of people on here do not want to be exposed to these. Crappypastas in need of major work will be given warnings by the admins under a special category. Sometimes, users will attempt to fix these issues for you, but do NOT post a crappypasta with the expectation it will be fixed. After awhile, according to moderator/administrator discretion, creepypastas that are not fixed will be given another special category, 48 Hours to Deletion. By receiving this category, it does NOT guarantee that your pasta will be removed! You still have 48 hours, give or take, before it is to be removed. If the creepypasta is reposted after being deleted, the creepypasta will be deleted again, and the user/IP will be banned for a period of up to three (3) days. If a story is a BLATANT troll pasta, as in, one that is obviously designed to troll or to test the tolerance of users, it will be INSTANTLY DELETED, with or without warning from the administrators. Note: In the event that you are temporarily banned for a short amount of time, the time limit will resume after your ban is up. Permanently banned users, however, will have their crappypasta deleted, unless a user on here, within the space of 48 hours, decides to adopt your pasta and fix it up themselves. 9) THE PLACEHOLDER PLAGUE'' - I might have not been very clear on my How to Post Your Pasta on the Listing topic, but if you have placeholders and/or section headings that you will not be using...DELETE THEM!'' They are nothing but an eyesore and tend to give a creepypasta the appearance of a poor quality crappypasta. Because there are tons of creepypastas posted every day, reading each and every one of them is very difficult to achieve, especially since we all have lives outside of our computers. If a creepypasta contains placeholders, our users are authorized to fill them for you as they see fit. If there are excessive amounts of placeholders, unneeded headings, or any of the above mentioned issues, the page may be defaulted into the Troll Pasta and/or 48 Hours to Deletion categories. 10) BE RESPECTFUL OF OTHER USERS '''- This is elementary, guys. We all come to this site to read good creepypastas and just to hang out. If you come on here trying to pick fights, you take away the experience for everyone else. '''Trolls and Flamers apply under this section as well. Follow that legendary Golden Rule: TREAT OTHERS THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE TREATED. If you further disturb the peace and tranquillity here despite all the warnings you receive, you will be banned. This includes PM's. If you are getting harassed/threatened in a PM, simply screen cap it and report it to an admin. 11) BE ONE PERSON AND ONE PERSON ONLY '''- You don't have a split personality, or even if you do, learn how to control it. We don't want fifty different user accounts all by the same person on here. A few of us use the number of users on here to gauge how much the community is growing, if you have fifty different user accounts all belonging to a single person, it throws off our data. If this is discovered, all accounts will be banned, no questions asked. However, if an Administrator finds it necessary to create ONE (1) '''UNLISTED account in an attempt to drive out people who are causing problems, they can be willing to do so, just so long as the account is not used except in times of need, and no connection made to other administrative accounts (unless informing trusted chat moderators or wiki administrators). All "spy" accounts are to be privately revealed to the other wiki admins (email and chat private messaging are good ways to do this). Any administrator caught abusing multiple accounts will fall under the same punishment as the normal users, including losing their status, and banning of all accounts. Though admins are allowed multiple accounts, they may attribute their rank to only one account. For example, a mod can only be a mod on one account, and same goes for admins and bureaucrats. There is but one staffed account per staff member.  The only exception is the "spy" account. If for some reason a staff ranking to one's "spy" account is deemed necessary to resolve a problem, then the account holder must inform the other admins of this decision and why it's necessary. If they agree to it, then the spy account will be allowed to temporarily hold a staff ranking until the issue is resolved. 12) DO NOT SPAM '- We don't need worthless packets of information to clog up the site. Point-gaming falls under this rule as well. '''13) DO NOT SHARE ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION '- We care as much about security and personal safety as anyone else, but we can only do so much. The majority of the maintenance of security and anonymity relies on you, the user. Don't give away any personal information, such as your name, address, phone number, etc. We want you to be safe, but we can only help you as much as you help yourself. Do not share your account information, I.E your password, to anyone. This gives a window of opportunity for someone to hack your account and not only result in your account being deleted, such as if said hacker decides to spam and raise hell, but it also gives the hacker the opportunity to extract '''ALL '''of your personal information. '''IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO NOT GIVE YOUR PASSWORD OR PERSONAL INFORMATION TO ANYONE! 14) DO NOT ADD MULTIPLE PARTS TO A STORY '- It wastes space on the creepypasta list, as well as wikispace. If you can't write a story all in one sitting, then type it out in a word program, such as OpenOffice Writer or Microsoft Word, then copy and paste it to here. OpenOffice I KNOW is free to download, and offers almost all of the same benefits as a Microsoft Office package. '''15) DO NOT WRITE WORKS IN PROGRESS (WIPs) '- It creates confusion, wastes a reader's time, and hinders our administrative duties when these are written. There is some leniency for this rule...for now...but if you, as a writer, decides to make every creepypasta you write a work in progress, we will take action. Please refrain from using these, or if you are writing a WIP, finish it within a timely fashion or it will be deleted, half-finished pastas that sit for a year and a half are not really a good thing, and just waste space. '''16) DO NOT POST FROM AN iPHONE (Or any mobile device) - Posting from your phone is a big no-no. Even if the pasta is good, the format will be wrong. If found to have been posting from any mobile device then you will be banned depending on the scale of the format errors. 17) PLEASE SIGN YOUR CREEPYPASTA '- This is a newer rule here, but to help us in identifying the author of a creepypasta, such as if you make it to ''Haunted Gaming or you win Creepypasta of the Month, it helps us to reward you properly. To sign is easy enough, just type four (4) tildes (~) at the bottom or the top of the creepypasta. For example (Remove the spaces between them): "~ ~ ~ ~" '''NOTE: '''Due to the fact that Wikia has changed their visual editing page, the four ellipses no longer work unless used in source mode. If you don't know how to navigate source mode, instead write your username on the page and provide a hyperlink to your user page, if you can. '''18) PLEASE DON'T MIGRATE A PASTA WITHOUT CREDITING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR. '''Actually you don't have to if the author is anonymous. For example, if the pasta is posted on 4Chan, the pasta is fair game. But if the author can be identified please give him or her credit. And even if the author is anonymous, please say so on the page. Also, please ask permission from the author first if possible before migrating the pasta. '''19) TO DELETE A CREEPYPASTA OR NOT TO DELETE - IF for whatever reason you want a creepypasta deleted (users can only request THEIR OWN creepypastas to be deleted, but may, if they find one they think might be deserving of such, give it a category of Pending Review, and an admin and/or highly respected user will decide whether or not to place the 48 Hours to Deletion category). PLEASE REMEMBER: If a creepypasta is given the 48 Hours to Deletion ''category, it does '''NOT' mean that said creepypasta WILL be deleted, it means that it has 48 Hours, give or take, before an admin will decide whether to delete it. As mentioned already, when a creepypasta is given said category, the author has forty-eight (48) hours (that's two (2) days) to bring their creepypasta up to wiki standards. So if you find your pasta is given forty-eight (48) hours, you better get started on fixing it! If you want your creepypasta deleted, DO NOT CLEAR THE PAGE, contact an admin (list at the bottom of the page) and we'll do it for you. The penalty for clearing a page WILL be a temporary account ban. Warning: If your pasta is deleted for reasons other than your own request, DO NOT just reupload it with no significant changes, or it will be deleted again immediatly and you will be blocked. Also, do not remove the "48 Hours to Deletion" category yourself, wait for an admin to do it. 20) NEEDS WORK CATEGORY - A pasta in "Needs Work" shall remain there only for a week before further action is taken. "Needs Work" should only be added by Mods or Admins, and means the pasta has some flaws, but will be accepted as a permanent page when fixed. "48 hours to deletion" on the other hand, should only be added by admins if the pasta is one of significant poor quality, if the one week probation time has not elapsed. Mods may add it to any page after it has been in ‘Needs Work" for over a week. Finally, ‘Marked for Deletion" means the page should be instantly deleted by an admin, and should only be added by admins or mods. Admins need only check the reasons for the deletion, which should be left in the edit summary, before deleting. All restrictions on adding categories would, of course, apply for removal of categories as well.  Finally, Admins and Mods should take responsibility for any pages they add to ‘Needs Work". In effect, that page becomes their ‘case", and it is said Admin's or Mod's responsibility to add "48 hours to Deletion" after one week has elapsed, and ‘Marked for Deletion" after that period, if they do not have the ability to delete pages. Any Admin or Mod should not remove any of these categories without first consulting the ‘Case" Mod or Admin. When "Needs work" or "48 hours to Deletion" is added, the mod or admin who added that category is required to post in a comment why they added it, and what the consequences of the story going unfixed are. If the author displays an effort or willingness to improve their story, they will be given an additional 2-3 weeks to fix it. The time span may vary or (in rare cases) exceed three weeks depending on the author's circumstances and availability to work on their story. It is up to the 'Case' mod or admin to decide. Though it is the responsibility of the staff member to ensure the deletion process is carried out, and the author's cooperation will increase the edit time for the pasta, any user, regardless of status, may edit "Needs Work" and "48 hours to deletion" pastas to resolve the problems specified in the comment section. If the staff member who deemed the story in need of work believes the changes have fixed the story, regardless of who edited it, that staff member, and that staff member only, may remove the deletion categories. They are responsible for either the deletion process, or ensuring the pasta is saved if it is fixed. NOTICE: Please do not add or remove the "Needs work" or "48 Hours to Deletion" categories unless you are a mod or admin. If you think a pasta should be added to the latter, add "Pending Review" instead. If you have improved your pasta and want either category removed, contact a mod or admin to have them remove it for you. 21) VANDALISM WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. 'Editing another person's pasta in order to fix spelling errors and grammatical mistakes, formatting issues, etc. is perfectly fine and even encouranged, but please refrain from actually changing someone else's story without permission unless it has been put in "Needs work" (in which case it is actually encouraged). And especially do not vandalize. If you vandalize you will be blocked and possibly permabanned depending on whether the page you vandalized was an actual pasta or another type of page such as a category page. '''22) LET'S TALK IT OUT. '''When promoting a user, other staff members must be informed and approve of it first. There should be at least three votes in favour of that user's promotion. Additionally, temporary staff positions are not allowed. If another staff member is needed, go ahead and promote someone as any other promotion would be handled. '''23) BAN REPEALS. ' If a user is banned, either from the wiki or the chat, and there is substantial proof that the banning was unwarranted, the banned user may be allowed back for a second chance. Screen shots may be used as evidence, but it should first be confirmed as valid by eye-witnesses who saw the event. If the banned user was in clear violation of rules, or was blatantly instigating other users, there will be no second chance. Should their banning be deemed unwarranted though, they shall receive a second chance (Ban Repeal). The next time they earn a ban however, they are required to wait out the ban's time span and will not be allowed back on before then. Should ban circumvention be discovered and proven, the user will be permanently banned. If there is a wiki dispute, where a member feels they require staff assistance, the issue should similarly be posted and discussed (User Assistance). Using screen shots in this situation is the same as ban appeals.Ban Repeal '24) THIS WIKI IS NOT JUST FOR GAMING PASTAS. '''Although SOG has a focus on gaming pastas, pastas of all subject matters not prescribed by the rules are allowed. In fact some of the best pastas on this wiki are non-gaming pastas. Therefore, please don't chastize someone for uploading a non-gaming pasta. '''25) TACTICS ARE FOR STRATEGY GAMES! '''CPotM is for pastas and authors that truly deserve the title, not ones that gain the most pity. Any tactics in which you seek empathy/sympathy will not be tolerated. You may advertise your pasta to a certain extent, but not to the point that it becomes obnoxious and/or for pity. '''26) HAVE FUN!!! '- This is a fun website where you can enjoy an unpleasant, nightmare-inducing story as well as be an active member of a growing community! Additional Information If, for any reason, you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for improvement, or would like to have a situation resolved, feel free to contact any of the SomeOrdinaryGamers staff: Bureaucrats: ~SomeOrdinaryGamers - Mutahar ---''YouTube'': SomeOrdinaryGamers ---''Twitch TV'': someordinarygamers ---''Facebook'': Some Ordinary Gamers ---''GooglePlus'':SomeOrdinaryGamers ---''Twitter'': OrdinaryGamers ---''Steam: TeamSOG '' ---''Blogspot'':#SOGNATION (note: Mutahar is very busy and does not visit the wiki very often. If you need help you should ask another admin) ~Sir Areis Lionheart - The Great Commander ---''YouTube'': supergamer88188 (Dark Dragon) ---''Twitch TV'': Thegreatcommander ---''Yahoo! Mail'': legendofspyro@yahoo.com ---''Steam: Necrodusk (NOTE: '''Please identify yourself and your affiliation with the wiki before sending me a friend request on here… I do not accept requests from random people) ---''Skype: '''sirareis ('NOTE:'''Please identify yourself and your affiliation with the wiki before sending me a friend request on here… I do not accept requests from random people) ~FlakyPorcupine ''--'''Gmail: flakyporcupine235@gmail.com Admins ~TheCosmicDestroyer - Giygas ---''Youtube: OmegaMetroidX ---'Twitch TV: TheCosmicDestroyer ---''Hotmail'': xander98@hotmail.co.uk ---''Steam'': The Cosmic Destroyer, Giygas ~Kefke Wren - The Bard ---''Youtube'': KefkeWren ---''Twitch TV'': "I think I've heard of that..." ---''Hotmail'': kefke_wren@hotmail.com ~Dustyfootwarrior - Dusty ''---''' Youtube:'' Wallykarp ''---''' Deviantart:'' Dustyfootwarrior ''---''' Steam:'' Wallykarp the Dusty ~Refreshing Demise - Death ~WildViper009 - Viper, or Morgan --- YouTube: Dr1FtK1ng1999 --- Twitch TV: Chocomocco12887 --- Hotmail: morganb1ack@hotmail.co.uk ~RubyTheMaster - Lizzy --- Gmail: tffan12@gmail.com --- Youtube: Lizzy-Games --- Skype: rubythemaster (Please email me first, or put your wiki username in your contact request! I am not keen on adding complete strangers to my contacts!) ~Sshakenbakee - Cameron ---''Youtube: ''sshakenbakee ---''Gmail: ''csimo022@gmail.com ~User:RepublicofE - Ethan ---''Email: ''3rdRepublicofE@gmail.com ~I love scary stories - Scary ~Stormlilly - Storm/Lilly ~Moist Towelette - Moist Twitch TV: twitch.tv/theextremelymoistone Email: supahmcstud@yahoo.com Reddit: fingermebooty ~Lindenbree - Bree ~Urkelbot666 - Urkel --- ''Youtube:'' Web Pulps ''--- DeviantAr't: Urkelbot666 ~Link is a Master - Link Rollbacks ~Fatal Disease Chat Mods ~Fryz ~CTstories ~Bugashi ~CyberTheNerd ~SynfulBlood ~Incorrect3 Social Networks: ''---Twitter': ''https://twitter.com/SOGWIKI '''---Facebook''': ''https://www.facebook.com/SOGWIKIPAGE Category:Site maintenance Category:Site administration Category:Site Maintenance Category:Site Administration Category:Organization Category:Browse